Bill to increase number of appeal court judges passes second reading at house of reps

A bill seeking to increase the number of justices of the court of appeal has passed second reading at the house of representatives. 

The bill seeks to amend the court of appeal act, cap C36, to increase the number of appeal court justices and “provide for appointment of a minimum of six justices in every judicial division of the court for speedy and efficient justice delivery”.

Section 1 of the proposed amendment seeks to increase the total number of the justices of the court from “90 to a minimum of 150 justices in line with current realities”.

Speaking on the floor of the house on Tuesday, Onofiok Luke, lawmaker from Akwa Ibom and sponsor of the bill, explained that the number of justices in each judicial division is inadequate as a result of the increasing number of court cases.

“The court of appeal is the intermediate court between the high court (including other subordinate courts and tribunals) and the supreme court. Established in 1976, the court had only three judicial divisions,” he said.

“The divisions of the court have now grown to 20. Some of the new divisions were commissioned in 2020.

“The law pegs the maximum number of justices of the court at 90. This number has become inadequate given the recent creation of the new divisions of the court – Kano, Gombe, Awka, Asaba, etc.

“There is a high increase in the volume of cases attended to by the court, which has necessitated the creation of the new divisions. This implies increased workload with fewer hands, which therefore affects quick justice dispensation at the appellate level.

“Most of the divisions of the court do not have up to six justices, implying that two panels of the court cannot sit simultaneously to attend to cases, which therefore stalls expeditious and timely hearing and disposition of cases.

“As a matter of fact, judicial divisions of the court with huge volume of cases like Abuja and Lagos ought to have a minimum of nine justices, so that the divisions can have three panels sitting simultaneously.”

Luke said the delay in justice delivery in the appeal court is compounded because justices are drawn from the court to sit at election appeal tribunals.

He added that the bill will “increase the quality of judicial decisions by making more hands available in adjudication process at the appellate level”.

Luke noted that the bill will also “decrease the workload on the shoulders of the justices of the appellate court and thereby extend their life expectancy”.

The bill was passed for second reading after it was put to a voice vote by Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives.